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UGA giving New College old look

Original appearance the goal

The University of Georgia's New College has seen a lot of changes in its 177 years.

But $3 million and a summer of renovation work could bring the bloom of youth back to the 19,000- square-foot building.

Workers began this week to revive New College, which was built in 1822 and rebuilt after 1832 following a fire that destroyed the building.

Crews not only will remove asbestos and rip out layers of floor and interior walls added through the years, but remove an exterior stairwell on the west side of the building, an interior stairway and other later additions to the building, said Scott Messer, a historic preservationist in the UGA Office of University Architects.

"There's not much of the original building left," Messer said.

But when workers finish in late winter or early spring next year, Messer hopes the building will look more like its original self, with windows more like the originals and a facade closer to its original design.

The three-story building even might yield up some of its nearly 200-year-old heart pine flooring.

Much of that original floor may still be in the building, but workers won't know until they strip away layers of flooring that have been added in renovations, Messer said.

The preservation planner hopes workers may uncover another piece of buried treasure as they lift off layers of flooring: a floor mosaic with a mortar and pestle design. An architect intended the mosaic as part of a makeover for the pharmacy college, but Messer said no one knows if the mosaic was ever actually installed.

The last major New College renovation was more than half a century ago, when workers renovated the building in the 1950s to house the university's College of Pharmacy. The college moved to a new building on South Campus in the 1960s.

"The building is absolutely worn out," said University Architect Danny Sniff.

Originally a dormitory, New College also has housed wounded Confederate soldiers, Civil War refugees, classrooms, the UGA bookstore, the psychology department and more recently, administrative offices for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Most of the project budget will go to redo the inside of the building, including installation of a new, more energy-efficient heating and air conditioning system.

"If money permits, we'll restore the exterior," Messer said. A layer of cement on the outside of the building has been trapping moisture inside the wall for years, causing deterioration.

"A lot of pieces are starting to crack," he said.

Workers have been systematically renovating UGA's oldest buildings for about 20 years, Sniff said.

In 2006, workers finished a $2.9 million renovation of Old College, which, when it was built in 1806, housed the entire university.

Once workers finish with New College, the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building will be the only structure on the oldest part of campus awaiting renovation.